FOCUS ON Josef Dabernig – Programm 2

With Josef Dabernig, one of the great masters of artistic film visits the Breitenseer Lichtspiele. The exceptional artist, who grew up in Kötschach-Mauthen, Carinthia, studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in the mid-1970s and has since created an extensive body of work across diverse media. Since 1996, Dabernig has regularly produced short films in addition to objects, installations, photography, texts, and performances. These films are presented both in exhibition contexts and at film festivals. Dabernig’s work is characterized by a strict and minimalist artistic language and has received wide acclaim in both the art world and the film world. His oeuvre has been honored through a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna | mumok, the Austrian Recognition Award for Fine Arts, and numerous invitations and awards at prestigious exhibitions and film festivals worldwide. Most recently, his latest film Lacrimosa (AT 2024, 11 min | PROGRAM 2) was nominated for the Austrian Short Film Award.

In his short films, Dabernig often appears himself, usually accompanied by friends and relatives, who perform in strictly choreographed ensembles in non-places, in-between spaces, or against architecturally striking backdrops. Narrative is ever-present but remains fragmentary. His films are marked by physicality, stillness, repetition, and absurd comedy.

Josef Dabernig will take part in an audience Q&A following his film programs.

20:30 | PROGRAM 2
•WARS (AT 2001, 10 min)
In the empty dining car of a long-distance train, the staff wait idly, exuding an indifferent phlegm of exhaustion and underemployment.
•Parking (AT 2003, 6 min)
A car pulls over at the roadside. Still seated inside, the driver and passenger undress.
•Lancia Thema (AT 2005, 17 min)
A silent protagonist, Dabernig himself, traverses decayed Mediterranean landscapes in the titular limousine – a road movie.
•Hypercrisis (AT 2011, 17 min)
A former retreat for Soviet filmmakers, whose former splendor is now only faintly traceable. Winner of the Prize for Innovative Cinema, Diagonale 2012! Nominated for the European Film Award!
•Pastry Friday (AT 2022, 12 min)
Friday afternoon – a pastry shop fills with speechless guests consuming sweets.
•Lacrimosa (AT 2024, 11 min)

Curated and moderated by: Lotte Schreiber

Still from: Lacrimosa (AT 2024, 11 min)